00:00hey does anyone remember the gold rush back in the 19th century prospectors were flooding
00:07California rivers with a pen in hand chasing well well scientists now say it might be time
00:15for the moon rush because apparently precious metals worth over 1 trillion dollars could be
00:20hiding underneath the surface of the moon that's a lot of money however can we really reach it and
00:27if so who does it belong to if you have ever paid close attention to the pictures of the moon you
00:35probably noticed a lot of holes and craters our satellite is like a giant swiss cheese it has
00:42over 1.3 million craters if you count those larger than 0.6 miles but today we're focusing on about
00:506 500 really big ones those over 12 miles wide those were not made by little green men or
00:57little green moles but rather by asteroids crashing into the moon since eternity scientists compared
01:05moon scans to meteorites and after crunching the numbers they think there could be a fortune in
01:10platinum hiding in those craters what's exciting is that many of these resources could be just a few
01:16feet beneath the surface the moon doesn't have an atmosphere like earth so there's no wind rain or
01:22earthquakes messing things up that means those asteroid crashes left their priceless metals pretty
01:28much right where they landed undisturbed in lunar dust for millions of years with each crater like a
01:35giant space bowl catching platinum iridium palladium and other metals on earth we have to drill super
01:44deep just to get a tiny bit of these by the way did you know that most of the mineable gold on earth
01:50likely came from ancient meteorites when earth first formed almost all the original gold sank into the
01:58core the stuff we can actually dig up today is probably what's left when space rocks slammed into
02:04the crust billions of years ago so maybe you wonder why not reach for the asteroids and mine there
02:13well that's because they're out of reach yes in theory it would be possible to mine from asteroids but
02:19obviously the moon is way closer and easier to get to than any other giant rocks floating in space
02:26we've already walked on it and brought back pieces of it to earth so it's fair to say we are familiar
02:32with it this makes mining it a much smarter step than chasing unpredictable asteroids however asteroids
02:40are next on the list also when it comes to mining the moon it's not just about the prize some of those
02:48craters have frozen water we know that because several missions like nasa's lunar reconnaissance
02:54orbiter and india's chandrayaan one have found frozen water ice in dark craters near the moon's poles
03:02this ice is super valuable because it can be broken down into oxygen and hydrogen they are the parts
03:09needed to make rocket fuel it could also be purified for astronauts to drink or even use to help grow plants
03:15imagine filling up spaceships with fuel right on the moon before flying off to other planets
03:22not only does that sound pretty cool but it's also economical and convenient that would save us a ton
03:29of money and effort and if we're already stopping to refuel why not stick around and set up shop
03:37it's about building a whole new space base and turning the moon into a launching pad for exploring deeper
03:43space space a moon base would let scientists study wild space weather practice building habitats and test
03:50robots in real lunar dust i can't be the only one excited for the future where robots stream
03:56their live missions from the moon the skills and knowledge we developed there could be essential for
04:02living on mars or exploring the moons of jupiter and beyond this is not as far-fetched as you might believe
04:09companies like astroforge and carmen plus are working on tech to mine asteroids and maybe the moon someday
04:17nasa's artemis program is trying hard to set up a sustainable human presence on the moon in the next
04:23decade and europe's space agency is also eyeing lunar resources so yeah the idea of people and robots
04:32working together on the moon is probably just a matter of time still it's not as simple as it
04:39sounds there are big questions that humanity faces just like with the original gold rush it's a bit of
04:45the wild west when it comes to rules the outer space treaty signed in 1967 says no country can claim the
04:53moon as its territory however it's pretty vague when it comes to private companies mining resources
04:59so if you build your rocket and mine some platinum first is it yours well as for right now it's a
05:06guessing game countries are debating and trying to figure it out before the space gold rush turns into
05:12a lunar free-for-all battle royale then there's the challenge of protecting the moon's one-of-a-kind
05:18environment some craters are so quiet that scientists dream of turning them into giant space
05:24observatories that study the universe without any radio noise from earth mining nearby could shake
05:31things up or kick dust into the air lunar soil could damage the sensitive gadgets and ruin the billion
05:37dollar science experiments that would definitely annoy researchers plus some parts of the moon have been
05:45untouched and mining could wipe out cool spots we haven't even fully explored yet so basically we want
05:51to make sure we don't turn the moon into a lunar construction site before we've learned all its
05:56secrets that's why some experts suggest setting up protected zones on the moon like national parks here
06:04on earth where mining and heavy machines just aren't allowed that way we get the benefits of lunar
06:10resources but keep the moon's most important areas safe for research and discovery but here's an even
06:17bigger question how is this thing going to affect us casual earthlings who can't take a walk up to
06:22the moon with our metal detectors and explore the moon's rare metals aren't just worth a lot they
06:29could actually be super useful for future tech platinum group metals which might be found in lunar soil are
06:36used in things like medical gear satellites and even some types of batteries and fuel cells
06:41if the moon really is sitting on a trillion dollar treasure it could boost tech industries and possibly
06:49lower costs there's also helium-3 a rare isotope found on the lunar surface scientists think it could
06:57someday be used for nuclear fusion providing a clean powerful source of energy that doesn't create
07:03greenhouse gases or long-term radioactive waste if fusion becomes possible even small amounts of helium-3
07:11could power entire cities one cool perk of using resources from space is that we could cut down on all
07:18the digging and pollution here on earth that means less damage to our environment and more sustainable
07:25ways to keep up with our growing populations needs on the other hand all these new opportunities could
07:31create new challenges of course there's going to be a cosmic tug of war with who gets the goodies
07:38nobody wants the fear of missing out on a moon rush bottom line lunar mining isn't just a science
07:44experiment it's something that could affect economies technology and the environment here on earth for
07:51better or worse when i was a kid hundreds of years ago we had the moon bases on the covers of our science
07:58books one of the reasons why moon landing projects became so rare is that it just wasn't financially viable
08:05why should a country spend resources to get to the moon if there's nothing valuable up there
08:11however now that we think there's something out there everything could change that's why i already
08:17imagined myself working nine to five on the moon fixing robots and growing moon plants but it's time
08:23to get back to earth so to speak nobody's setting up a moon mcdonald's or booking lunar airbnbs just yet
08:30even the most optimistic experts say we're still decades away from big mining operations or permanent
08:37lunar bases for now most missions will be robotic experimental and with price tags that will make
08:44your head hurt so until we all get our moon mining helmets it's something to think about while moon gazing
08:50hmm what about that wealth hiding on the bright side of the moon thank you for watching
08:58that's it for today so hey if you pacified your curiosity then give the video a like and
09:03share it with your friends or if you want more just click on these videos and stay on the bright side
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